Nola KOs Are Coming!

Nola makes a great speaker I heard them as well in 2012 at RMAF. You made a good choice
 
Guys-After waiting for 7 months, the NOLA KOs are here and in my system playing music. They are still breaking in, but so far I can tell you that I am happy. Rob, I will take some pictures and post them maybe as soon as tomorrow. I have an expensive pair of silver speaker cables in for review from Viero which I did spend quite a bit of time listening to with the Wilson Benesch speakers that were lent to me by a friend while I was waiting for the KOs. I am using them now on the KOs, but soon i will have to send them on their way. The Hagerman Trumpet Reference phono stage just showed up tonight on my doorstep for review and I'm looking forward to putting that into my system tomorrow and hopefully that will tell me more of the truth of what the KOs can do with vinyl. My Krell KPE Ref phono stage is no slouch, but the Hagerman phono stage is a JFet/tube hybrid that is built to the nines and I'm looking forward to hearing it.

I will have much more to say about the KOs after they are broken in and become content with their positioning. Carl wants me to remove some of the sound panels on the wall behind the speakers, but I haven't done that yet because that is the sound I'm used to and I want to get a handle on the KOs before I start changing how the room sounds.
 
Congratulations Mark. I can't wait to see them and get your opinion. My previous Nola Micro and Alon Sigs benefitted from little front wall treatment. They both had a wonderful open and electrostatic like sound. Carl knows how to make a GREAT speaker.
 
Congrats Mark. Looking forward to your impressions and pics :thumbsup:
 
Yes Mark these speakers have always intrigued me. curious of your opinions
 
Guys-I appreciate all of the kind comments. I have attached some pictures. I just installed the Hagerman Trumpet Reference phono stage and that long cord you see running across the floor is the wired remote. Once you have dialed in your settings from your listening chair, the idea is to disconnect the remote and only use it when you change cartridges. That way you don't have a source of RF inside the phono stage.

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Congrats mep! KO's and dual subs!! Wow! Looks great, must sound greater!
 
Mark, such a smart move. System synergy is everything & the fact that Carl chooses to show with AR gear means - yours system will sound awesome !!
 
mep said:
Guys-I appreciate all of the kind comments. I have attached some pictures. I just installed the Hagerman Trumpet Reference phono stage and that long cord you see running across the floor is the wired remote. Once you have dialed in your settings from your listening chair, the idea is to disconnect the remote and only use it when you change cartridges. That way you don't have a source of RF inside the phono stage.

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Simply stunning............., way to go Mark.
 
Thanks guys, again I appreciate the kind comments. I feel strongly that the NOLA KOs represent a sweet spot in the line and can be considered something of a bargain. Carl refers to the KOs as mini-line source speakers and they are. These are the first line source speakers I have owned mini or full sized and I have to say I like what they do for imaging and how they disappear as a sound source better than other speakers I have owned.

I will also be the first to admit that it's no coincidence that Carl showed the KOs with the ARC Ref 5SE and the Ref 75 at RMAF 2012 where I fell in love with the KOs and I now own those very same components. Since I have owned ARC tube amps since the 1980s, it was not big stretch for me to go back to ARC. The Ref 5SE is the best ARC preamp I have ever owned without a doubt.
 
Holy cow Mark, what a beautiful room. Thanks for posting the photos.
 
Mark...wonderful looking and I am sure sounding. System synergy is one of those terms that get bandied about a lot but once you hear it, you recognize it for what it is, a sound that just sounds right to your ears and allows you to suspend belief for that brief moment in time. I know it's still breaking in but let us know what you are hearing/feeling with this combo when you think the time is right.

Congrats again :thumbsup:
 
Myles B. Astor said:
That's not your normal table!?!? Or is it and I'm just going senile?
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You are going senile. That is my SP-10 MKII in the custom plinth with my SME 312s arm sitting on the VPI TNT rack.
 
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